An Ironic Twist of Fate
by MaraLSky
Summary: When a ragged refugee is caught stealing from Siuan's garden, Gareth pushes aside the creepy feelings he has about swearing the woman into service as his wife's maid. But it seems the Pattern isn't finished having laughs at their expense. Some Spoilers
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** This story was originally intended as something of a humor piece. It turned into what was supposed to be a short, but serious piece. Then it just...grew. It's a bit out of control, but I **do** rather like it. I just need to figure out how to end it! :)

There was something about the scene taking place before him that made Gareth Bryne's flesh crawl.

He couldn't put a finger on it, but he felt as if he had already lived this out. That was not a completely ridiculous thought; a lord was frequently asked to pass judgment upon those who ran afoul of the law, and had an obligation to do so even if it was the lord himself who had been wrong. Though, in this case, it was his lady that had been wronged. Siuan had not been happy when she found that her garden—from which she had finally coxed a few meager crops, albeit with liberal use of the One Power—had been raided by a starving refugee that was passing by their manor house. Starving or not, he could not allow a woman to steal so blatantly from his wife's garden.

It had been but a few months since the Last Battle. Gareth and Siuan had been two of the few fortunate ones that fought and lived to tell of it. Siuan, shocking everyone but Gareth himself, had immediately announced her retirement from the ranks of Aes Sedai and had requested that she be allowed to renounce the Three Oaths. The young Amyrlin had merely smiled and assented to Siuan's request and promptly inquired if there was any service she might perform for them in payment for their efforts in seeing the world saved from the Dark One. Egwene had married them on the spot that afternoon and had personally opened a gateway to Kore Springs for them.

Their lives had been relatively quiet, though like most others they had their share of building and rebuilding to do. The garden had been Siuan's effort, though she obviously had no touch for it. Gareth had taken over governing his estates, allowing Caralin to retire with a generous pension.

Gareth resisted the urge to yawn as he considered the young, dark haired woman that knelt before him, her chin down to her chest, refusing to meet his eyes. Despite the Warder bond, he was exhausted. Their own building was also taking a more daunting aspect: they had been pleasantly shocked to find out that Siuan was pregnant a little over a week prior. Siuan had been awake at all hours, emptying her stomach, allowing Gareth himself no rest.

He grimaced. Her condition had done nothing for her temper either. Though his wife's constant nausea was a distraction—indeed, he could feel his own stomach churning; sometimes being a Warder as well as a husband had its drawbacks—he was thankful she was currently up in their bedroom resting, and not here deciding this woman's fate with him. After all, she was no longer bound by the Third Oath.

"What is your name?" he prodded the woman gently for the third time. He wished she would look up at him; it was much easier to read people when you could see their eyes. But the girl seemed utterly broken. Joni claimed she hadn't said a word, even as they hauled her into the shed they used for a makeshift prison cell.

The woman trembled visibly and whispered something that Gareth couldn't make out. He sighed in frustration. He didn't want to terrify the girl, but he was starting to wish Siuan _was_ here. He could pass neither judgment nor mercy upon this frightened woman unless she spoke enough to at least give her name! "Speak up, woman!" he snapped. Silently, he cursed his quick tongue—the lack of rest and Siuan's projected stomach troubles were doing nothing for his normally even temper. Light send that her morning sickness pass quickly.

"Suffa, my lord." It had not seemed possible before, but the woman seemed to become even smaller, curling in on herself as she knelt on polished wooden floor of the manor house. Gareth tried to place her accent with the three meager words she had spoken. Murandy, perhaps? If so, it was strangely slurred.

Suffa. That was an unusual name. It sounded more like the name of a pet than one any parent would consider for a child. "Well, Suffa, I would ask that you look at me. And defend yourself, please." Perhaps it was passing judgment upon a young female refugee that gave him that eerie feeling of déjà vu. That was how Siuan had first come to him, after all. But this was nothing like that—Siuan and her two companions had been neither broken nor timid. While he had felt concern for them, pity was only feeling he could summon when he looked upon this cowering woman.

The woman raised her head timidly, and Gareth saw she had dark eyes, set in an angular, but pleasant enough face. He wouldn't quite call her pretty. For all her timidity, her visage held the remnants of a once stone hard woman. He met her eyes; yes, a hard woman that had been shattered beyond repair. "I am guilty, my lord," she whispered.

Murandy, he decided, no matter the odd slurring. Exasperated, he folded his arms in front of him. That had not been the answer he was looking for; she was well within her rights to plead guilty but that did not reduce his desire for an explanation, even if it was the obvious one. "Why did you steal from Lady Siuan's garden?"

Something in that question took her by surprise—and horrified her as well. It was there, for a split second; a slight widening of the eyes and a stiffening of the neck, quickly fading into that sickening subservience. Gareth had become an expert in reading people. One had to be, when one was married to a former Aes Sedai whose friends were of the same ilk. Some of them would still try to pull the wool over his eyes on occasion, though it was beyond him as to why.

But what was there to be surprised or horrified by in that question? It hardly seemed a surprising revelation that the garden would belong to the lady of the manor. "Lady Siuan?" the woman whispered, her hands clutching her filthy skirts. Whatever judgment he passed on her, she would receive the opportunity to bathe and a clean dress. Perhaps one of Siuan's old dresses could be altered for her.

"Yes, Lady Siuan," he replied with a weary sigh as he disguised a wince. If he was reading the little bundle of emotions in his head correctly, the lady in question was now regurgitating her afternoon meal. He hoped he wasn't turning green. "She worked very hard on that garden, and she is not in the best temper today. "

"I was hungry, my lord." She wrapped her arms around herself, and began to weep. Gareth blinked. "I am guilty. Kill me if you wish, my lord. Punish me."

He frowned down at her. "Suffa," he began, grimacing at the name. Could that really be her real name? As a father-to-be, he couldn't imagine naming his child something so…demeaning. "I do not execute people for being hungry, even if they have stolen from my wife. I ask that the debt be paid." Goosebumps formed on his arms as he formed his next words. "You will work in the manor as Lady Siuan's maidservant. She is expecting and could use the help. I would ask that you pledge to do your service immediately in your oath." Thinking back to another time in a small tent in a soldier's camp outside of Tar Valon, he added drily, "A former maidservant of mine once told me it would be a good idea."

He wasn't sure what he had expected, but the woman's reaction was not one that would have ever crossed his mind. She shrunk back, weeping piteously. "Please my lord, I will work in the fields!" She clawed her way across the floor to his feet, and began kissing his boot. Alarmed, he scooted his chair back away from her, but she merely closed the distance between them again. "My lord, have me whipped! Flogged!"

He stared down at her, feeling nearly as horrified as she seemed. He stood quickly, and walked to the opposite side of the room, pacing the floor so she could not resume her slave-like behavior. "No, Suffa. You owe Lady Siuan the debt, not me." He stepped back up to the woman's kneeling form, and took her by the arm, forcing her to stand. Terrified sobs wracked her entire body. "I think it will be best for you; I don't know what happened to you—I hope you will tell us, someday—but perhaps serving as Lady Siuan's maid will put some backbone back in you."

The woman fell to her knees again, swearing her binding oath to him and his wife in between sobs. Gareth sighed. He hoped she would cut out the weeping, for her own sake. Siuan did not much like weepy help.

* * *

Siuan eyed her new maidservant with a critical gaze as she rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. For the first time that day, it was not bouncing like a fishing jolly in a typhoon. Burn the man for doing this to her!

After he was sure she would not vomit all over him, Gareth had led her down the stairs to inspect her new maid. She sat in a comfortable chair in the manor's foyer, with the shaking woman kneeling before her. With a snort, she turned to her husband. "She seems about as useful as a torn sail, Gareth. At least _I_ didn't flinch every time you looked me!"

Gareth chuckled. "I never believed I could make you flinch, dear. That's one of the reasons I fell in love with you." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Give her a month, Siuan. If she doesn't work out for you, I don't have anyone to polish my boots anymore," he commented playfully. "Whatever happened to that girl anyway? Oh yes…I married her."

_Fish guts._ She folded her arms. "Fine. But she had better not make more work for me, Gareth Bryne," she said in a low voice that only her husband could hear. "I'm already carrying _your _child, and my stomach has decided to treat food as it would a pile of rancid fish guts for my trouble, burn you!"

He grinned at her. Insufferable man. He bent to whisper in her ear, "I seem to remember it was _you _that accosted me that evening, Siuan." She sniffed, feeling her cheeks heat. That was completely beside the point.

With a sigh, she turned her attention back to the woman. "Please stand…Suffa," she said with a grimace. Gareth was right about one thing; that name made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. She caressed her stomach gently--_their_ child would have a proper name, not one that sounded as if it belonged to a dog.

The woman stood, still staring at the floor. "Well." Siuan wasn't quite sure where to go from here. Suffa was a mess: her hair was tangled with various remnants of shrubbery sticking out of it, and her face was dirty. It was best not even to discuss her dress; about all Siuan could tell was that it had once been a dark color, but it was so dirty and bleached by the sun; it could have been almost anything. It was an unfamiliar cut, though Siuan was sure she had seen it somewhere. Perhaps during the Last Battle. "Let's get you cleaned up, Suffa. I will not have any maidservant of mine walking about smelling like a pile of fish guts." She pushed herself up out of her chair, nearly falling into her husband as she struggled to steady herself. "Then we'll get us both something to eat." She grimaced. "At least you'll be able to keep it down."


	2. Chapter 2

Siuan removed a simple blue dress from her wardrobe and handed it to Suffa. "You can alter it if you want. I doubt I will be able to fit in it again," she said with a sigh. "There's no room to let it out the waist."

The woman stared at the dress with the oddest expression on her face. She seemed bewildered, yet almost disgusted at the same time. Even through her subservience, this shone through. Siuan gave her a firm stare; she had been Amyrlin once, and no maidservant of hers was going to look upon a gift from her that way! "If you don't like the color, too bad. Most of my old dresses are blue."

Suffa didn't reply, but obediently donned the dress over the fresh shift Siuan had given her. "Your old shoes will have to do for now. When I'm sure you're going to work out, I'll take you to the cobbler," Siuan told her.

Suffa murmured something that might have been thanks. Siuan was beginning to wonder if the refugee was capable of normal speech or if whatever had happened to the woman had simply scarred her to the point where she was incapable of normal human interaction. With a weary sigh, she beckoned her new maidservant closer. "Come here, Suffa. I'm sure you may have a few minor hurts that need Healing. If there's anything serious wrong, Nyneave will be coming along to visit with Egwene tomorrow." Siuan was not looking forward to this; while Egwene insisted that Nyneave be Siuan's personal Healer for the duration of her pregnancy, she and the young Yellow sister had never had the most cordial of relationships. Egwene was no doubt leading Nyneave by the ear on the matter besides.

Suffa stared at her, dark eyes wide. She cringed away from Siuan as the former Blue Sister laid her hands on Suffa's head and embraced the Source. Siuan frowned as it slipped from her grasp. "Codswallop," she muttered in frustration. "I knew this would happen, but not this soon! Blood and bloody ashes! Burn the flaming man for putting me in this state," she growled. She pointed a finger at Suffa. "Nyneave will deal with you tomorrow. Let's go down for dinner."

* * *

"I Healed her bruises and cuts," Nyneave told Siuan and Egwene as she entered the room. The two sat in the sitting room, sipping tea while Egwene updated Siuan on the latest goings on in the world. "That's all that is _physically_ wrong with her."

Siuan blinked at the temperamental Yellow Sister. The former Wisdom made a brave effort at hiding the gnawing pain that Siuan knew still plagued her. Lan had not survived Tarmon Gai'dan, and Myrelle had passed the bond to Nyneave just before the fighting had begun. She bore the grief of not only losing a Warder, but of being a widow. Siuan shivered, knowing someday she would most likely face the same fate: a Warder bond prolonged a man's natural life, but an Aes Sedai nearly always found herself weeping over her Warder's grave whatever the nature of his death might be. "But?"

Nyneave gripped her braid, locking eyes with first Egwene, then Siuan. "She could channel once."

Egwene and Siuan exchanged startled glances. "Stilled?" Egwene asked.

Shaking her head, Nyneave poured herself a cup of tea and sat. "No. Burned out. There's nothing anyone can do for her, even if we were to agree that would be a good idea. Damer Flinn and I are still working with those who were burned out during the…the Last Battle—" Nyneave could barely choke out the phrase at times. "—but we've found no sign that it can be Healed. It seems that the boat truly is burned in this case," she said nodding to Siuan.

Three women were silent for a long moment, sipping their tea as they mulled on their own thoughts. Siuan felt a new kinship with her maidservant; she had once thought that woman's fate to be her own. Still, Nyneave's revelation did not explain very much about Suffa. Siuan had once been cut off from _saidar_ and it had not resulted in that sort of pitiful behavior. No, there was much more to Suffa's story than they had yet to uncover.

"You say she stole from your garden, Siuan?" Egwene asked reaching for the teapot.

Siuan nodded. "Gareth was on his way back from inspecting the wells when he found her sulking around with half my carrots loaded in her arms and the rest scattered all over the ground. She was quite the mess. I tried to clean the dress she was wearing with the One Power once I got it off of her—once I managed to embrace _saidar_ that is," she said with a scowl. "It was an unusual cut, though about all else I could tell about it was that it was black, maybe dark gray, at one time, and that was after I channeled what I could of it clean. I burned it."

Egwene frowned.

"What?"

"_Damane_," she said stiffly. Siuan looked away from her friend's face; she had no need to be reminded of what it looked like to be nauseous.

"It's possible, I suppose." Siuan frowned into her tea, thinking. "Gareth thinks she's Murandian, though, and I agree. The Seanchan never got that far before the Dragon signed the Accord with the Empress."

The Amyrlin grimaced. "That doesn't mean anything. She could have been a traveler, a refugee even then."

Siuan nodded reluctantly. "It does make sense. It would explain her behavior…and her name." She shuddered. "Her name even gives Gareth goose bumps. Suffa." Siuan rubbed her own arms. "There is nothing to be done for her, as Nyneave has already said. I can say from experience that you have to find what you're going to live for from inside yourself. No one can do that for you. No one. Perhaps helping care for an infant will help, if she survives the next seven months."

"You should try to find out who she is, where she came from," Egwene pointed out. "Perhaps she has family."

"Of course," Siuan said with a sharp nod.

* * *

Siuan shifted in her chair trying to find a comfortable position. Her ever swelling belly did not make this a simple task, and her embroidery was becoming ever more neglected as her pregnancy progressed. Light, how did the child expect her to finish his or her crib things when the child insisted on kicking her in the side every five minutes? Its father's child to be certain.

She tossed the embroidery on aside and pulled herself to a standing position. Siuan glanced at the woman sitting in the chair in front of her, hunched over a pair of knitting needles and a half knitted baby bootie. Siuan had procured the knitting needles in an attempt to occupy herself, but had found the craft to be frustrating. She had later found Suffa had picked them up, knitting various baby things. The former _damane_ was surprisingly nimble with them, so Siuan had purchased more woolen yarns for her and permitted her to knit whatever she wished. It seemed to keep her spirits up, though Siuan wondered how long the woman would last.

She and Gareth had long ago decided that Suffa had paid their debt to them, and had offered to release her from their service. The woman, while utterly silent unless one of them spoke to her, had done a respectable job as a wash woman and of keeping the house clean. She was a hopeless cook, but they had hired a local widow for that job. Suffa had not responded to their offer of release, but had doggedly continued with her duties and refused the gold she had been offered as compensation. Gareth had quietly put aside a sort of trust fund for her using the wages she would have earned otherwise.

Siuan walked over to the serving tray and poured herself a cup of tea. Her efforts to discover the woman's past had been all but fruitless. The times she attempted to question the woman had only resulted in her throwing up her hands in frustration. Worse, any questions about her life prior to the Seanchan, no matter how innocuous, seemed to terrify Suffa. Even Gareth would admit that Siuan had managed to hold in her temper with the woman, and other attempts made by Gareth and Egwene had fared little better. Though she seemed to fear her mistress' questions the most, her fear of the other two was not insubstantial.

She walked back over beside Suffa's chair and gave her an approving nod as she reached down to inspect the woman's work. "Very nice. If it is a girl, perhaps you can knit her a dress." Siuan rubbed her bulging belly. "What do you think, Suffa?" Siuan had almost trained herself not to wince when saying the woman's _damane_ name. Efforts to learn Suffa's given name had resulted in uncontrollable weeping and pleas for punishment. It was nearly as bad as the time Siuan had tried to empathize with her by speaking of the time when she had been stilled—talk of _that_ matter had resulted in Suffa barricading herself in the kitchen pantry and her pleading for Gareth to summon a headsman. They all agreed to avoid the topic after that incident.

But perhaps other conversation would prove for fruitful. Even the most reluctant sometimes gave up information when they were talking about those other than themselves. "Do you think it's a boy or a girl? Gareth thinks a girl, but I say a boy—the child stubbornly persists in attempting to irk me, just like its father. "

Suffa did not look up, but said in that hoarse whisper of hers that had never altered since they had taken her in: "I do not know, my lady. My lady's child will be—," Suddenly Suffa stopped in mid-sentence, her head suddenly upright staring straight at Siuan. Her face had lost its sickening timidity and Siuan found herself staring into a pair of dark eyes that had once haunted her in a real life nightmare.

Siuan froze, clutching at her belly as if to defend her unborn child against what came next. The former _damane_ spoke in a harsh tone, much like the one that had denounced Siuan all those months ago, as she uttered what Siuan knew to be a Foretelling:

"_Within this woman's womb is the one who will bring a future to the people of the lands in the new Age, but not without the tears of himself and of his kin. The House of Bryne shall rise up with great pain and tribulation._"

As the last word faded from her lips, "Saffa's" eyes widened as she found herself in direct eye contact with Siuan. The cringing servility had returned, but her chin did not drop back to her chest, nor did her hands continue with her knitting. _Saidar_, that had been as easy to grasp as a live silverpike, came easily to Siuan for the first time in months, and she held the weaves of Air that surrounded the other woman with a trembling mind as she shouted urgently for her husband.

The pieces had fallen into place—Siuan cursed herself for not seeing it sooner.

"Suffa" was Elaida.


	3. Chapter 3

Egwene al'Vere, the Watcher of the Seals, the Flame of Tar Valon, the Amrylin Seat sat herself into one of the wooden chairs in the sitting room of the rustic manor house. The reflection of the manor house, at least. In the World of Dreams, things moved and changed constantly, especially in a lived in place such as this. A brief glimpse of half completed embroidery; a serving tray left upon a table. There were even glimpses of sleepers who were touching the World of Dreams in their normal dreams; she thought she caught a barest glimpse of a proud looking woman in a dark red silk dress through a doorway that led to the kitchen. Odd that; perhaps one of the servants?

She settled herself in, waiting. Egwene wasn't sure if Siuan would show or not—all too often the woman had fallen asleep from exhaustion on the nights of their prearranged meetings without putting on the twisted ring _ter'angreal _first. She concentrated, picturing a book in her hand and set to reading. She would wait.

Egwene wasn't sure how much time had passed when she heard footsteps sounding on the stairs of the eerily empty manor. She turned with a frown, preparing to take action if the footsteps held danger. Normally, she would just leave, but she could not risk the heavily pregnant Siuan stumbling upon a dangerous situation.

The figure of a man entered the room, and it took Egwene's mind a moment to comprehend who was standing before her. The stocky man had not too long ago been a familiar sight in her daily routine, but to find him here in _Tel'aran'rhoid _was a shock. Perhaps he had simply touched on the Dream, much like the silk clad woman she had glimpse?

Gareth Bryne bowed deeply. "Mother. Siuan sends her apologies. Or rather, I send them for her," he added drily. His clothing shifted colors and styles, much like anyone inexperienced in the World of Dreams, though much less than Egwene would have expected. Perhaps his experience as first as soldier and more recently as Warder prevented stray thoughts from entering his consciousness so easily. "She has had a very trying day, Mother, as I will explain in a moment. I felt it was important that one of us speak with you immediately, so I took the ring from under her pillow." He shrugged. "She mentioned once a man might be able to use it. I suppose this proves her theory."

Egwene stared at him for a moment, but recovered her senses quickly. No doubt Bryne would pay for this in the morning. "Please give her my best wishes, Lord Bryne. What is it you have to tell me that is so urgent that you would risk your life and your wife's temper experimenting with a _ter'angreal_?" she asked letting her voice take on a sharp edge. She had expected the man to have more sense than that.

He didn't flinch. He simply nodded; her displeasure buffeting him like the wind would buffet a large oak tree: he simply let it pass. Egwene's anger could not bother him; the Light knew he had probably survived much worse from his wife. "My apologies, Mother, but I think you'll understand when you hear what I have to tell you. We discovered Suffa's true identity."

Egwene raised an eyebrow. This was interesting news, to be sure. She had spread word throughout Murandy to every Aes Sedai agent there to try to find the woman's family. The response had been oddly mute; one would think _someone_ would have inquired about Suffa, given that the numbers of those missing after the Last Battle were staggering. And those were just the names that had been registered with the White Tower. But could this news have not waited until her and Siuan's next meeting? She kept her voice carefully neutral. "Go on."

Bryne hesitated, which in itself was an odd thing. The man was seldom unsure of himself; Siuan had been one of the few she witnessed to ever cause the former general to even blink. He seemed to struggle with himself, searching for words that refused to form themselves on his tongue. He sighed. "There's no easy way to put this, Mother. Suffa is…Elaida."

It had been many months since mere words had been able to stun her into a stupor. There was a long silence before Egwene was able to scrap her jaw off the floor enough to form a single, rational word. "How?"

"She apparently had a Foretelling. Siuan wouldn't tell me what it was, and I didn't want to upset her more by pressing the issue. You'll have to ask her yourself." The man grimaced. "I would assume she escaped from the Seanchan during or after the Last Battle. I'm not sure she even realizes we know who she is, though Siuan frightened her to the point of collapse." Egwene looked at him sharply, but he didn't flinch. "When I came into the room, Siuan had the woman wrapped up with the Power like a bundle of laundry and was demanding I remove her from the manor immediately."

"And did you?" Egwene asked drily.

He gave her a level look. "I'm still married, if that's what you're asking. Don't worry; Elaida is safe. I have Joni's daughters seeing to her. The woman had quite a shock when Siuan suddenly turned on her. I think she'd pass out again if she saw Siuan again." He gave a hollow laugh. "I pity the poor woman, whatever her past transgressions. Facing Siuan in a bad temper is daunting enough when you're whole; I can't imagine what it would be like for someone such as that broken woman." His tone was fond as he spoke of his wife's ever ballistic temper, and Egwene had to smile.

"How is Siuan reacting?"

He shook his head. "She'll be okay, though I worry about the stress this incident has caused her. I don't think she exactly wants revenge, but I won't say that she would exactly be upset if someone were to smother Elaida in her sleep tonight." He sighed and dropped into one of the chairs. He now wore his color shifting Warder's cloak. Bryne didn't appear to notice the change. "Siuan knows that had Elaida not done what she did, then she wouldn't have the life she has now. But Elaida once took everything she had, and as irrational as you and I know it is, she fears that Elaida will manage to do so again."

"Be glad you're her Warder, or it could be a lot worse," Egwene commented absently. Bryne gave her a bemused look for a moment, then his eyes widened as he comprehended the meaning behind Egwene's statement. He looked indignant. No matter. "I will call a meeting of the Hall tomorrow, to decide what, if anything should be done. Regardless, I will be coming to speak with Elaida tomorrow evening, and I will bring Nyneave along to check up on Siuan. Make sure she rest, Lord Bryne. A shock like this can be difficult on a woman as far along as she is."

He gave her an ironic bow. "As you command, Mother." Egwene fought a grin. Once she had issued him orders to begin an assault. Now she simply gave him orders to make sure his wife didn't over tax herself.

Egwene stood and Bryne did the same. She gave him a small nod. "I will see you in Kore Springs two hours before sunset. Please have Elaida ready for me to question when I arrive, and I would speak with Siuan after Nyneave is finished with her. Goodnight, Lord Bryne."

He bowed deeply, and Egwene waited until he had vanished from the Dream to let herself slip back into real sleep. Tomorrow might be a long day.

* * *

Nyneave slammed the door behind her as she entered small guest bedroom of the large farm house. The nerve of that woman! Nyneave had been Healing people since her late teens while _she_ barely Heal simple battle wounds! It was completely irrelevant that Nyneave hadn't known what she was doing for much of that time. How _dare she _toss the mug of sleeping draught at her head! If the bloody woman wasn't eight months pregnant and barely able to stand she would…

"Temper, Nyneave." Egwene's voice cut in calmly, but sharply.

Nyneave gripped her braid. She had almost broken the habit just before— No. She would not think of that. Tears welled in her eyes. Another burned out channeler. She would find a way to Heal it, she and Damer Flinn would. It didn't matter what Elaida had done, she was sick, and Nyneave would find a way to Heal her. Somehow. If she could not Heal death…

A hand fell gently on her shoulder. "Nyneave. Is Siuan well?" Egwene's voice was gentle this time, the voice of a friend, not the Amyrlin. Something tickled her cheek and she reached up to scratch it. Her fingers touched wet skin. Tears.

Furiously, she brushed them away. "I gave her some sleeping draught. Twice." Anger was her friend, and she used it. She would not break down in front of Egwene. Again. "The first she threw at my head. Then Bryne came and had a shouting match with the evil woman after making me leave the room." She folded her arms, forcing her fingers away from her braid. "He called me mule-headed. I heard him!" She sniffed. How dare the man call her that when his wife made a stone seem yielding? "Then he made me show him how to make the tea, and told me I could stay with you unless they send for me. Those two deserve each other!"

It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn she saw Egwene roll her eyes. The Amyrlin was not supposed to do such a thing. "Yes, they do," the younger woman agreed, but there was a smile playing upon her lips that suggested this wasn't the awful thing that Nyneave made it out to be. Nyneave sniffed again. Egwene was so proud of herself for seeing that the two of them were married—in Nyneave's humble opinion, Egwene should be doing a penance to rival Romanda and Lelaine's for that particular sin.

Nyneave's eyes fell on the woman sleeping peacefully on the small but comfortable bed that took up most of the room. She had obviously received the draught as well. "I see _your_ patient was more cooperative. Did you find anything out?"

With a sigh, Egwene sat and straightened the skirts of her plain green dress. Most in the little town did not know that their lord's wife had once been Aes Sedai, let alone Amyrlin, and those that visited her knew she preferred it that way and dressed as inconspicuously as possible. Even the Amyrlin herself. "Nothing. Elaida hides her true identity from herself. It was beaten out of her by the _sul'dam_." Egwene's eyes glittered in the dim light and Nyneave suppressed a shudder. Her friend's eyes were terrifying when she spoke of the Seanchan. "She knows who Siuan is, and she knows that Siuan has more than enough reason to hate her. I think she even realizes why. But somehow, she can't connect the woman who did those things to herself."

"That is ridiculous," Nyneave replied flatly. "She was a madwoman as an Amyrlin, there is no doubt about that. An arrogant, irresponsible leader. But she was not _insane_."

Egwene shook her head. "You don't know that for sure. But I agree. Elaida is not insane, not even now. But her will is shattered; her sense of reality completely twisted and her identity has been stolen." She gave the woman a pitying glance. "Perhaps Elaida still lives beneath Suffa somewhere and with time and the right sort of attention she might emerge. But neither you nor I understand the mind well enough to know for sure."

Nyneave frowned. The thought of leaving someone, even Elaida, in such a state made her sick. "What do you think will happen to her?" It was a half-rhetorical question. She knew as well as anyone what usually happened to women who lost the ability to channel and were not Healed.

Egwene rose from her seat and gestured for Nyneave to follow her out into the hallway. The Amyrlin didn't speak again until they were outside in the chilly late fall night. "She may very well die," Egwene told Nyneave quietly. "She still lives without the One Power. But she has held up surprisingly well the past few months—something seems to keep her going." Egwene stopped, as if unsure if she should continue.

Nyneave eyed her friend's profile in the darkness. "You know what that something is." Egwene was silent. "Don't try to deny it."

"She told me she wanted to continue serving her lady—Siuan." Egwene tightened her plain woolen shawl around her as a cold wind blew past the two women, ruffling the fallen leaves. "That she wishes to repay her debt."

Nyneave made a _tsking_ sound. "We all know how much chance there is of that happening: None." She stopped in front of Egwene, forcing the Amyrlin to stop in her own tracks. "The woman would as soon allow Bryne to take Elaida as his mistress as allow her to continue folding her laundry. And for once, I can't blame horrid woman a bit. Perhaps there is another place she could play the servant. The Tower. The palace in Caemlyn. Elayne could find a place for her."

Egwene shook her head. "No, those places would remind her of what she's lost." And working for the woman she had disposed didn't?

Nyneave stared at her incredulously. "You aren't really thinking of trying to convince Siuan to take her back in?" Perhaps she should be checking on Egwene's health. Clearly the woman had lost her mind from the stress of being the Amyrlin Seat.

Brushing past Nyneave, Egwene continued walking toward the village inn, not bothering to check if Nyneave was following before speaking. "I thought you would enjoy the thought of something that would irritate Siuan," Egwene commented mildly.

"Irritate? Absolutely." Nyneave tugged her braid and fiddled with the hair tie. "Sure. Convince Gareth Bryne to go out drinking with his war buddies and get him drunk enough that _she_ becomes tipsy. Put a bit of itch weed in her clean shifts, if you like. Put salt in her tea!" She sniffed, "I would be all for that, if the woman wasn't nearly bursting with child! I would call forcing Elaida on her—even in her current state—a bit more than _irritation_. The woman may be a burr in my saddle, but she doesn't need the stress you even making such a request will cause. It's bad enough she had to face it the way she did!"

"She will give birth within the month," Egwene pointed out as they stepped onto the porch of the inn. "They will be able to use help with the babe."

Nyneave's snort would have done Siuan proud. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I hardly think Siuan needs her former mortal enemy as a nursemaid to her first born child! Though that would make for some _interesting_ bedtime stories. 'Sweetie, let me tell you how I once usurped your mother and left her to die! Well, she would have never met your father if I hadn't!'"

This time, it was Egwene who stopped in front of Nyneave, blocking her way into the inn. "Daughter, I think you should sit out here for awhile and contemplate how to hold your temper." She gazed at Nyneave with that unblinking stare. Where had the girl learned that anyway? Nyneave shifted uncomfortably beneath the Amyrlin's gaze, annoyed that her former apprentice could cow her so. "I allow you leeway, but you go too far, daughter. Perhaps I should set _you_ the penance to work as a nursemaid for Siuan and Gareth. I will deal with Siuan in the morning, and you are not to breathe a word of what we have spoken of to either of them even if they do send for you. Do I make myself clear?"

Nyneave clenched her teeth. "Yes, Mother." She stalked over to the rickety old bench that sat in one corner of the bench and sat down. She folded her arms. She was far too wound up to sleep regardless.

"Good," the young Amyrlin replied. "I bid you good night, daughter."

"Good night, Mother," Nyneave muttered, suddenly barely able to speak. The back of her throat ached as it threatened to close. Oh Light, the tears were coming again. Egwene frowned down at her, her hand on the doorknob. Nyneave waved her away, but the younger woman turned to sit beside the former Wisdom and hugged her tightly.

As Egwene stroked her hair and murmured comforting words, the dam burst and she wept bitterly on her friend's shoulder. Burn him for getting himself killed. She had nothing now, nothing except an Aes Sedai's shawl and Talent that had failed her, though every other Yellow agreed she could not have done anything. She feared Egwene's threat most of all, even though it was just that. She could not be around a babe. She could not! She had failed to conceive his baby before…before… Sobs wracked her body as she clung to the other woman for dear life. She would deliver Siuan's baby, do what was required to make sure both mother and child were well, then Travel as far from Kore Springs as possible. Mat was on the other side of the world, in Seandar. Perhaps she would go there and visit, now that he had made it safe for women like her. The Prince of the Ravens. She never would have believed it. Someone had to keep the boy in line, to keep him safe like she had been unable to do for Rand. She was a coward for wanting to run, but she had always been a coward, hadn't she?

The innkeeper's wife stepped onto the porch and Nyneave heard Egwene murmur something to her. She loosened her grip on Nyneave to pull a small package from her dress pocket and hand it to the woman. She hated that someone else had seen her like this; she hated that Egwene often did and insisted on checking upon her constantly.

The woman came back, carrying a mug on a tray. Egwene thanked the woman and took the mug. She gently pushed Nyneave away from her, forcing her to sit up. "Nyneave, drink this," she said forcing the mug into her hand.

"I—I don't want anything," Nyneave replied her voice shaking. What was the woman thinking, offering her refreshment right now? She would rather die of thirst anyway.

Egwene gave her a stern look. "Drink it, or I will make good on my threat." Nyneave stared at her, momentarily hating her friend. She took the cup, and downed it, barely tasting it. It tasted of blueberries and something else familiar.

Once the tea was gone, Egwene hugged her again, allowing her to cry against her shoulder. Nyneave began to feel very drowsy, her sobs becoming quieter. She realized dimly before she slipped into sleep that Egwene had given her the same sleeping draught they had given Siuan and Elaida.


	4. Chapter 4

Siuan grimaced, moving her arm into a more comfortable position and shaking the stiffness out of it. Light, what she wouldn't do to sit up! But if there had been one thing both Gareth and Nyneave had been adamant on was that she stay in bed. It seemed they had both labeled her as an invalid, a thought that made Siuan's blood boil. She took a deep breath. Calm. If she wasn't calm, Gareth would sense it and come with that horrible tea again and likely try to convince Egwene, who now sat calmly on the edge of the bed, to bind her with the Power while he forced it down her throat. Siuan wasn't sure if the young Amyrlin Seat would side with her husband on this matter—but Siuan wasn't eager to find out.

"You never did tell me what she Foretold," Egwene said suddenly, glancing up from the embroidery. She had insisted on taking up where Siuan had left off the day before. Siuan thought it was ridiculous—the Amyrlin Seat did _not_ have time for making baby things. Even for a friend.

Siaun scowled. She didn't want to talk about…that woman. How dare she show her face here in Siuan's home? How dare she come grovel at the feet of Siuan's husband and threaten the happiness of Siuan's baby after taking away everything Siuan once held dear? True, there was a part of her that was grateful to Elaida, if it was possible to be grateful to someone who had once did everything in her power to see you dead—she would still likely be a powerful, but very lonely woman otherwise. She would not trade her life with Gareth for anything that "might have been", but there was a principal at stake here. She felt threatened—Elaida had washed her clothes, kept her home and assisted her husband when she was unable to because of her pregnancy. She did not like the thought that Elaida had been alone with him at anytime, though her trust in him, his strict sense of honor and the Warder bond, kept him safe from suspicion. It did not protect Elaida, however. "She said I will have a boy," Siuan replied curtly. Well, it was true.

"And if that's all it was, why on earth would you refuse to tell your own husband?"

Bloody man. Why did he have to go sneaking off into the World of Dreams to meet Egwene anyway? He could have gotten himself killed! "Maybe I want him to be surprised," Siuan muttered. Egwene stared her straight in the eyes, unblinking. Burn her. She hated it when Egwene did that! Never mind that she had taught her that expression. "Fine," Siuan growled. After she had given birth and she was once again on her feet, she was going to make him pay for his little jaunt into _Tel'aran'rhoid._ First, for old times' sake, she'd throw his boots at him. Maybe a dish or two as well. Then she would box his ears. Finally, she would let him make it up to her. Siuan gazed off into the distance, half-smiling to herself. Well, she actually would let him enjoy that last bit…

"Siuan!" Siuan snapped out of her fantasies as Egwene's voice rudely interrupted her planning her husband's "punishment". She gave the Amyrlin a reproachful glare, something few other women dared. Wasn't she supposed to be _relaxing_?

"Fine," Siuan said again. She could daydream later, though she was tempted to see if she could kick Egwene out of their room and have her send up Gareth as she was leaving. Siuan shifted again and sighed resignedly. It was highly unlikely he would consent to any…activities at this point. Still, a back rub would be nice, if nothing else. Egwene arched an eyebrow, as if she knew what Siuan was thinking. "Fine then. Elaida—" she bit out the name as if it were bile "—said that I—I carry the one who will bring a future to the people of the lands in the new Age." She fiddled with the satin bedspread and squeezed her eyes shut. "But that he wouldn't do so without the tears of himself and of his kin. And that the House of Bryne shall rise up with great pain and tribulation." Egwene frowned at her and placed a comforting hand on hers. "She was knitting a baby bootie. Elaida…knitting baby things. For my baby," she barked a weak laugh, sniffling slightly. They said women got weepy sometimes, when with child. She blamed it on that. "Who would have thought? I asked her whether she thought it would be…a boy or a girl. She said she didn't know, and then…"

Egwene nodded her understanding. She patted Siuan's hand. "There is nothing we can do about a Foretelling, Siuan. You know that. Elaida spoke whatever it was she read from the Pattern—only time will interpret it."

Siuan stared at her hands. "I know, Egwene. But it sounds like such an…unhappy future. Light, my son isn't even born yet."

"Sometimes these things aren't as bad as they sound—"

"Sometimes they're worse," Siuan cut in. She picked at a loose thread on the bedspread. She would need to fix that before it unraveled. "Why didn't we see who she was before? She worked for us for over _six months_. You and Nyneave both spoke with her. I sat in the same room and had tea with her nearly every day. We knew she had probably been captured by the Seanchan… I must be blind."

Egwene shook her head. "Siuan, none of us would have ever pictured Elaida as the groveling servant she is now, least of all you and Gareth. I know you both…worked…with her in a manner of speaking, but your associations with her would hardly give either of you the impression that she could become like that. And the fact Elaida had probably been collared was hardly at the forefront of our minds. After she disappeared, we all were more than eager to forget she ever existed."

"I realize that," Siuan replied tartly. _But it doesn't mean it doesn't goad me_, she added silently. "Does the Hall want to do anything about her?"

Egwene's expression was difficult to read. It was a stern mask, but there was a hint of uncertainty. "I don't believe they do, now that Nyneave and I have both testified to her current state. She will die if we don't find her a place where she can feel somehow fulfilled. That is something else I want to talk to you about."

Siuan stared at her friend. The baby kicked, seeming to sense his mother's sudden unease. Her whole body went ridged. "No. You cannot possibly even be _suggesting_…"

"I'm more than suggesting, Siuan. You need a—"

"We need nothing, and even if we did, it would not be that devilfish of a woman." Siuan felt sick to her stomach—how could this woman who claimed to be her friend suggest such a thing? Siuan knew she had asked some outlandish things of other sisters, kings, queens and even a general or two as Amyrlin, but Siuan was none of those now. Yes, she was loosely affiliated with the Tower still, by means of friendships and the Kin, but to ask her…! "Why don't you just ask me to hand my husband over to her to give her _fulfillment_?"

Egwene's dark eyes glittered with controlled anger. Siuan held on tightly to her courage, stifling the unease that came from pushing someone who was far more powerful than her both in political prowess and strength in the One Power. Siuan was not exactly a weakling in spirit or in intellect, though she lay swollen and pregnant in her own bed. That last was key: this was _her_ home, her and Gareth's. She now understood the commoners' resentment towards the Aes Sedai, though hers was without the awe they usually experienced. No woman had a right to tell another whom she would keep as company, whom she would employ as help. The Amyrlin's voice was sharp as a Power-wrought sword. "You're being unreasonable, Siuan. Elaida was once an initiate of the Tower, and it is our duty to take care of her. No matter what she did, _no woman_ deserves to be collared. You will—"

"I will nothing." Light, had the girl always been this pompous? "It is your duty, yours and the other sisters to take care of her. Not mine. I am retired. I am not Aes Sedai anymore. I am a wife, a lady and will very soon be a mother. My association with you and the Tower is purely honorary and informal right now. In sixty, seventy years, when my life has once again…changed—" Light, that thought made her stomach clench, but she had to realize it _was_ reality "—perhaps I will ask to return. Until then, this is what I have chosen, and I will not have my former enemy forced upon me and my own simply because you must take every woman who has ever been at the wrong end of an _a'dam_ under your personal protection! Take her as your own servant if you must, but do not ask me to!"

The young woman was silent, a stern frown upon her visage. The girl opened her mouth to speak, but not before the door to the bedroom came crashing open, revealing Gareth Bryne. "What is going on, Siuan? You're supposed to be resting, and all I can sense is that you're near well about to commit a murder!" He did exaggerate so at times. He stopped in his tracks as he took in the scene before him, his eyes drifting from his wife laying on her side in their bed, to the Amyrlin standing over her---when had she stood up?—with a stone-hard expression. He frowned at the younger of the two women. Most men would have turned tail straight away at the sight, but her Gareth was the only man she had ever known who had dared make demands of Aes Sedai. He made demands of the sisters in Salidar all that time ago, and he had since made demands of her, many of them quite unreasonable. He was quite capable of making them of the Amyrlin Seat. His voice was respectful yet firm. "With all due respect, Mother, I'm afraid I must insist you leave. You're upsetting my wife and Nyneave Sedai said she was to rest and remain calm."

Egwene's gaze swept over to Gareth with the same unyielding stare. He stood his ground, meeting her stare for stare—while Siuan might no longer be Aes Sedai in name anymore, he was still as much a Warder as any of the Gaidin. Siuan felt a surge of pride as well as a hint of smugness. He would beg no pardon to _this_ Amyrlin.

Egwene laid the embroidery on the bedside table. She gave Siuan one last penetrating stare. "I must be getting back to the White Tower," she said, as if Gareth had not all but ordered her out of the room. "Nyneave will be staying in town until the baby is born. Think on what I have said. We _will_ finish this discussion at a later time, Siuan." She gave Gareth a small nod. "Lord Bryne."

He bowed, just deep enough by a hair. "Mother." As soon as the door closed behind Egwene, he turned to Siuan. "What the blazes was that all about?" he demanded, removing his coat, boots and sword. He moved to lie down beside her and began massaging her aching neck and back. She closed her eyes, letting a pleasant moan escape her lips. There were definite advantages to being married to your Warder. The Greens had probably thought the rest of sisters were decidedly slow for not figuring it out sooner.

"The bloody woman wants us to take Elaida back into service," Siuan spat. He propped himself up on one elbow so he could frown down at her over her shoulder. She glared up at him. "Did you _have_ to bring her into this? You know how she is about anything involving _damane_."

"Come here." He slipped one arm around her shoulder, and gently pulled her into a seated position, leaning her back against him. He moved his other hand in a circular motion over her rounded stomach. "You know she would have to find out eventually." She felt him grimace. "I was hoping she would come and take Elaida to the White Tower and deal with the matter there." He pressed his lips to her temple. "I apologize, Siuan. If I had known, I would not have said anything."

She eyed him, her expression stony. "You're not off the hook yet, Gareth Bryne. Once I can move about properly again, you will pay for this."

"I will make sure to wear my helmet until I am sure you're finished throwing boots and dishes at my head," he chuckled. He cupped her chin in his hand and bent around to kiss her deeply. _Fish guts_, she thought as her arms snaked themselves around his neck. It was hard to stay angry at the bloody man for very long. He pulled back slightly, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "As for any other 'punishment' you have in mind, I look forward to it."

She smiled as he began to kiss the side of her neck. "I could make you take it right now." Her tone was musing, playful, but she knew he'd be able to sense that it was a request. She wanted him to make her forget about Egwene's preposterous request, and everything else for that matter.

Siuan could feel his warm breath on her jaw as he paused. She could sense his temptation and his desire for her as he gave her one last passionate kiss. Most women might feel ugly or undesirable if their husband turned them down in her current state, but she knew he was only being cautious. Still, it didn't stop her from being annoyed as he pulled away and planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. "No, Siuan. Nyneave would box my ears."

She eyed him skeptically. "You just threw the Amyrlin Seat herself out of our house and you're worried about Nyneave?"

"Nyneave is far more frightening than the Amyrlin," he replied blithely and Siuan arched an eyebrow dangerously at him. "And she's also right this time," he added firmly. "Though it _would _be quite entertaining to see her give that particular lecture again," he said with a chuckle and Siuan grinned. Watching Nyneave stumble awkwardly over her words as she forbade the two of them from engaging in any "activities" had been the highlight of each of her visits. Siuan had taken great pleasure in insinuating that such things had occurred far more often they really had just to irritate and embarrass the young Yellow sister. One would think the woman had never had a husband!

They sat in silence for a long moment, both lost in thought. Gareth laid a hand on her stomach again, and she placed her own over his. Very soon, they would no longer be two, but three. It was hard to wrap her mind around this, but when she managed to do so, it terrified her. It was laughable really—she had schemed and plotted for the salvation of mankind, been usurped and nearly executed and then faced the Dark One's minions in the Last Battle. She had survived all that, and the thought of being a mother frightened her!

"You should go see her," Gareth said suddenly. That little knot of emotions was contemplative, cautious.

"Who?"

He held up a hand, as if to ward something off. "Suf—Elaida."

Siuan stared at him, eyes wide with indignation. "Not you too! I would have expected—"

"I'm _not_ implying we should keep her as a servant, Siuan." He gripped her hand. "I will leave that entirely in your hands. But she is part of your past, and a part of it I don't think you've dealt with completely." Siuan opened her mouth to give him a scathing reply, but he covered her lips with a finger, silencing her. "I know you don't miss your old life and that you're happy where you are now. I'm very glad that you are; it would break my heart if you weren't. You're fine with the fact you've lost your old life, but you have _not_ forgiven the person who caused you to lose it."

She yanked her hand out of his grasp and pushed him away, shifting as far away from as was possible without falling off the bed. She rolled onto her side, turning her back on him. He moved to reach for her, but she shrunk farther away. "Touch me now, Gareth Bryne, and you won't get to do so ever again!"

"Siuan, I—"

She cut him off, ignoring the fact the bond made it clear he regretted even bringing it up. "Have I ever told you _exactly_ what that woman had done to me?"

He didn't respond. It was a topic they had never really spoken of—not during her months of servitude to him, nor during their courtship and not even during their almost year of marriage. She knew he knew roughly what had occurred, but he had never asked her to talk about it. It was an unpleasant topic, if not one that was forbidden.

"She had me tortured," Siuan said softly, her arms curling around to hug herself. Light, it felt as if her abdomen were a giant hand, threatening to squeeze her in half. Thinking of that time often made her feel strangely ill—it was as if it had happened to another person, but that person was so close to her that she could feel their pain in the most physical of ways. As if it was happening to Gareth, who was bound to her not only by the vows of marriage, but by a tangible bond of body and spirit. "I kept back what I could—bits and pieces really. A few important bits." She felt his hand hovering above her arm, wishing to comfort her, but afraid she might really act on her threat. With an effort, she turned over to face him again, and met his eyes. "I don't remember that much. Perhaps it's the mind's defense to block out those memories."

Gareth gazed at her silently, sharing the pain of the memory with her. He slowly reached up to touch her face, and this time she let him. No words were needed as he carefully embraced her, pulling her against him. He kissed her, his lips barely touching hers, apologizing for his foolish words that had dredged up all those horrific memories that she had tried so hard to stifle in the last several hours. She responded by grabbing his hand and placing it on the first of the tiny buttons of her sleeping gown. Nyneave could scream and blush until her head became an Illuminator's show. She would take his apology in the form she wanted, burn her. She lost herself to his increasingly demanding kisses and the soft caress of his hands over her body.

He had almost reached the last button when a sharp pain once again clenched Siuan's belly. She was quite willing to ignore it, but he froze and pulled away. She gritted her teeth, both from the pain and her irritation at her husband. "Gareth Bryne, if you think you can just change your mind when you—"

He stood quickly, snatching up his coat and boots. There was a large rip in the front of his shirt, no doubt by Siuan's own hand, but he ignored it, buttoning his coat up to hide it. "We need to get Nyneave." There was anxiety in his normally level voice. Siuan stared at him, aghast.

She bit off a curse that she hoped would properly singe his ears. "Why on earth are you thinking about _Nyneave_ when we were about to—!"

He bent over her, and began redoing the buttons of her gown. He pushed her hands away even as she protested. "You're having pains. The baby is coming." As he fastened the last button, he hollered for their cook, causing the bedroom's single window to rattle. "Kanlyn!"

The baby? That was preposterous. Nyneave had said the baby shouldn't be here for another three weeks! She gasped as pain seemed to increase tenfold. Blessed Light, he was right! Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she began the breathing pattern that Nyneave had taught her. Gareth's jaw was clenched tightly from sharing her pain. "I'm sorry, Siuan," he muttered, his guilt penetrating even through Siuan's agony. "I'm so sorry."

"What are…you talking…about?" The pain was starting to fade, but it still bloody hurt. "You said I started it!"

He opened the bedroom door and shouted again for their cook. There was an expression of impatience and worry that Siuan had never seen on his face before, even when they had faced a legion of Trollocs together. Three weeks early was not necessarily disastrous, but it wasn't a good sign either. He turned to face her again. "No. For stressing you out. Nyneave said you needed to rest. I should have never brought that up."

Siuan didn't get a chance to reply. Kanlyn had entered the room, hands still soapy from dish water. "My Lord needs—"

Gareth didn't let her finish. "Stay with Lady Siuan. The baby is coming." The cook's eyes widened. "I have to go get Nyneave Sedai." He sprinted from the room, the bond alight with terror.


	5. Chapter 5

Author Note: Finally! I had a terrible block on this story for some time...I'm flying by the seat on my pants on this one, as I really didn't know where I was taking it when I started it! Thanks to all who have been following and for the kind reviews! Anyway...back to the story:

* * *

"I told her! I told her not to bring it up!" Nynaeve's voice floated eerily through the chilly evening even as they trotted their horses back to the manor house. Gareth resisted the urge to kick Traveler into a gallop, but knew it was unsafe to ride through town at such a speed, especially when it might very well be cold enough for there to be ice on the ground. Breaking their necks would do neither Siuan nor the baby any good.

He was thankful Nynaeve was a much better rider than Siuan. No matter how many times he had tried to instruct Siuan to improve her seat, she still ended up nearly falling off more than half the time. Nynaeve was a good enough rider that she could vent her considerable temper even while on the back of a horse. "I will box her ears, Amyrlin Seat or not! Light, what was she thinking, asking something like that of a woman that far along with child! She best remember I smacked her bottom when she was…"

Gareth tuned out her voice, concentrating on Siuan. She was between birth pains right now, though she was still uncomfortable. He hadn't confessed his own role in Siuan's anxiety. He might just let Nynaeve box his ears when this was all over though. He reined his horse to a halt as they arrived at the manor, and dismounted. Nynaeve did the same beside him, her single braid a disheveled mess that seemed to bristle out like an angry cat's tail.

When they arrived at the door to his and Siuan's room, Nynaeve pushed past him and stopped him from entering by placing a hand on his chest and shoving him backwards. "Where do you think you're going? A birthing room is no place for a man!"

Gareth frowned at her. He was Siuan's husband and Warder, the father of the child! He gritted his teeth as he sensed the most intense of the birthing pains yet assaulting Siuan. Her cry of pain was well controlled and he felt that Nynaeve couldn't possibly realize the amount of pain his wife was in. "I—"

"NO!" Nynaeve slammed the bedroom door in his face, and he heard her muffled voice ordering Kanlyn about. He took a deep breath, trying to seize some sort of calm emotion; it was the least he could do for Siuan. The last thing she needed was her Warder losing his head. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. Someone had to bring some sort of decorum to the scene. From what he could hear, Nynaeve certainly wasn't doing her part.

Gareth was at a loss for something with which to occupy himself. He didn't have much in the way of nervous tics; years of soldiering and commanding troops had long eradicated any he might have had as a child or adolescent. Pacing was not like him. He clasped his hands tightly behind his back as he heard Siuan's voice screeching his name, followed by a long series of rather explicit curses detailing exactly what she would do to make sure he never did this to her again. He grimaced but relaxed. That was pure Siuan. If she was lucid enough to be threatening his eventual dismemberment…well, it was a good sign. He really hoped all the Shadowspawn weapons found after the Last Battle had been thrown into a very deep part of the Aryth Ocean.

He was musing that it might have been just as well that Nynaeve had forbidden him entrance, when he heard a knock at the front door. He frowned, not really wanting to leave sight of the bedroom door, but he knew he wasn't doing anything useful by staring at it. It wasn't as if he wouldn't feel every excruciating pain that Siuan was experiencing as long as he stayed within the ten miles of here. He would know if anything happened in that room, good or bad. Glancing down at his coat to make sure it still fully covered his torn linen shirt, he forced his boots to unglue themselves from the floor and dragged himself downstairs and to the door. Most nobles would have someone to do this for them, but Siuan had balked at the idea of once again being surrounded by servants. He had always felt a little silly himself making someone else answer the door instead of using his own two feet to do so, so he had acquiesced to this particular demand.

He opened the door and immediately wished he hadn't. Elaida stood on the doorstep. The woman appeared half frozen, with only a thin cloak wrapped around her shoulders and the wool dress Siuan had given her all those months ago. She looked as if she'd been weeping. The woman immediately fell to her knees when she saw him. "My Lord! Lady Siuan needs her bed things washed. Suffa must apologize. Suffa was not there to do them."

Part of him wanted to gape at her. Another part wanted to slam the door in her face and run back upstairs to continue his vigil by the bedroom door. Instead, he took the woman by the arm and hauled her into the manor house, guiding her to a wooden chair by the entrance. He could hardly let her freeze, now could he? "You can apologize to Lady Siuan later," he told the distraught woman gently. If Siuan made it through her early labor, she was going to kill him for letting Elaida set foot back in their home. "She's in labor right now."

Elaida's eyes widened. "My Lady is having her baby?" Gareth nodded and before he could stop her, Elaida had launched herself out of the chair and past him, sprinting up the chairs faster than he had believed possible. _Blood and bloody ashes_, he thought as he ran after her, taking the steep, wooden stairs two by two. If she ran in…

Too late. He heard Nynaeve shriek: "Gareth Bryne, I told you—! YOU!"

Gareth nearly slid by his boot soles into the room to find a rather chaotic scene. In the center of it was Siuan, her sleeping gown up to her hips with her hair drenched in sweat, alternately screaming curses that might make the most seasoned soldier blush, breathing heavily and demanding that Elaida be removed from the room immediately. She was clearly in the latter parts of the birthing process. Nyneave stood at the business end of the birthing bed, clearly prepared to guide their child into the world as she screeched at Siuan to push. Poor Kanlyn was trying to pry Elaida off of Siuan. The former Red sister was clinging to Siuan's hand, kissing it, pleading for forgiveness between sobs.

"GET HER AWAY FROM ME!" Gareth rushed to his wife's side, pushing Kanlyn aside to physically lift Elaida away from Siuan. While he succeeded in pulling her away from Siuan, the woman was no weakling and put up quite a fight. He didn't want to harm her, and the fact she kept reaching for Siuan made his job all the more difficult. He was worried the struggle between them might result in one or both of them inadvertently harming his wife. He held Elaida by the waist as she stretched, almost doubled over, to grab for Siuan's hand again.

"Nynaeve, can't you _do_ something?" he asked, struggling to force Elaida into the chair the Egwene had vacated some time ago. Surely the woman could spare a glance to bundle up the woman in the One Power.

Nynaeve hissed, shooting him a glare that would have wilted the hardiest of tree. He still stood by what he had said earlier: Nynaeve was far more frightening than Egwene. "I am delivering _your_ child, Gareth Bryne! Do I have to do everything?" Still, Elaida stiffened, and then slumped into the chair, bound by an invisible force. There were tears streaming down Elaida's face. Her sobs were inaudible; Nynaeve must have gagged her too. He sighed with relief and stepped back to his wife's side and took her hand.

"Gar—" Nyaeve began.

"No, I'm staying," he said sternly. He had seldom let Aes Sedai push him around, and he wasn't going to let them start when his wife was giving birth to their child. He looked down at Siuan. "That is, if Siuan wants me too."

She shot him a murderous glare, silently promising he would pay for putting her in her current state of agony, but nodded. He chuckled and kissed her damp forehead. Perhaps she would remember to take the tea before she insisted he make all this up to her. Then again, thinking of her single mindedness earlier…perhaps not.

Siuan cried out as another contraction seized her body. He grimaced as she squeezed his hand so hard he felt as if the bones were being crushed to a fine pulp—and that was on top of everything he sensed from her. He slipped an arm around her shoulders, supporting her as she half sat up. "PUSH, WOMAN!" Gareth sighed. Nynaeve might be the best Healer the Yellow Ajah could provide, but her bedside manner left a lot to be desired. She seemed especially irritable now, even taking into account her anger at Egwene.

"I see the head!" Kanlyn cried excitedly. She was back beside Nynaeve, her earlier wrestling match with Elaida forgotten. Gareth was glad she was there. She was far more encouraging than the young Aes Sedai. "One more push, Lady Siuan!"

A few moments later, the cry of an infant broke through the voices of the three women, and Siuan heaved a few deep breaths, sobbing. There was some bustle as Nynaeve and Kanlyn worked to clean the infant up. Nynaeve smiled at Siuan as she placed the swaddled infant in her arms, though it seemed forced. There was pain in the young woman's eyes. "It's a boy, Siuan."

Gareth leaned around to peer at his son, touching the child's cheek as he gripped Siuan's shoulder. "Mikel?" he asked Siuan. She had wanted to name a boy after her father.

Siuan nodded, apparently unable to speak. He moved to sit on the bed next to Siaun. He wrapped his arms around her and their baby. For the first time he could remember since she had bonded him as her Warder, he felt completely drained. Pleasantly drained, but he felt he might pass out if he did anything more strenuous than sit there holding his wife and staring into the eyes of his son. He smiled. They were the same blue eyes that had once sent him wandering half way around the continent. Light, he was going to be as stubborn as his mother.

A murmur rudely interrupted his thoughts, as timid and respectful as it was. "My Lord, Nynaeve Sedai says she needs to clean Lady Siuan up…and that you need to move."

He sighed, glancing up at Nynaeve, who stared at the two of them as if she were afraid to speak. He nodded silently. Gareth wasn't sure what was wrong with the woman, but she looked as if she might shatter if anyone pushed her the wrong way. He rose from the bed, giving his wife and son a kiss before straightening. There was another problem to be tended. He stepped over to Nynaeve. "Would you remove the bindings from her legs?" he asked her quietly, not wanting to remind Siuan of Elaida's presence in the room. He glanced back at Siuan. She was staring down at their baby; disbelief and awe filled his sense of her. She looked up at him and met his eyes, practically beaming though tears still streamed down her cheeks. "I need to take her back to Joni's daughters."

Nynaeve nodded and made a quick gesture at Elaida and the woman's legs went slack. He went over to the woman and took her by the arm, helping her back into a standing position. "Come on, Suffa," he said gently. "You need to go back to Joni's daughters. They'll take care of you." She was staring over at Siuan, who thankfully had bent her head back down as she nursed Mikel. Despair and hopelessness seemed to wilt her—it seemed Nynaeve's flows of Air and his grip on her arm were the only things keeping her from slumping to the ground. He pitied her, but he would not again ask Siuan to speak with her. He wasn't sure if he would be able to forgive Elaida either, if it had been him. He pulled Elaida from the room, loath to leave his family even for a short time, but aware he needed to perform this one duty for everyone's benefit.


End file.
